Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a sensor interface, and more particularly, to devices and methods for enabling autonomous monitoring of a plurality of sensor types to further reduce power consumption.
Description of the Related Art
Sensor interfaces are commonly used in the electrical arts to collect and process data from one or more sensors of a device. However, collecting sensor data and processing sensor data requires interventions from a central processing unit (CPU), or the like. Such prolonged intervention from a CPU may unnecessarily consume excess energy and reduce the overall battery life of the device being at least partially controlled by the processor. Even a device with a CPU capable of entering into a low energy sleep mode, for example, may still consume a significant amount of energy while collecting and processing sensor data because of frequent interventions by the CPU. Because of such interventions, the CPU may be unable to continuously remain in sleep mode to result in any substantial reduction in the power consumed.
Some existing interface devices may provide a form of autonomous monitoring of sensors so as to reduce the frequency of intervention by the associated CPU and conserve energy. However, such devices may still be incapable of interfacing with a plurality of different sensor types in an efficient manner. Such devices may further lack the configurability required to simultaneously handle and decode a multitude of different sensors individually. Moreover, current systems are deficient in effectively interfacing with certain sensor types, such as capacitive sensors, resistive sensors including light sensors and accelerometers, and the like.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved control systems and methods which provide a sensor interface that overcomes these deficiencies. In particular, there is a need for a low energy sensor interface that is capable of providing autonomous monitoring and analysis of sensors both effectively and efficiently. More specifically, there is a need for an interface capable of individually configurable sensing and decoding means to enable accurate threshold comparisons and state determinations with little to no CPU intervention. There is also a need for an interface that is adaptable for use with a wide range of sensor types including capacitive, inductive-capacitive, resistive as well as other analog sensor types.